Bogus pizza man and two accomplices thwarted in Palo Alto holdup

Updated 11:21 pm, Monday, August 3, 2015

Palo Alto police are looking for three men, one of whom posed as a pizza delivery man, who tried to rob an occupied home at gunpoint the night of Sunday, August 2, 2015.

Palo Alto police are looking for three men, one of whom posed as a pizza delivery man, who tried to rob an occupied home at gunpoint the night of Sunday, August 2, 2015.

Photo: Courtesy, Palo Alto Police Department

Bogus pizza man and two accomplices thwarted in Palo Alto holdup

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Palo Alto police were on the lookout Monday for three robbery suspects, including one who posed as a pizza deliveryman, in an attempted a gunpoint home invasion that was foiled by a homeowner, authorities said.

Just before 9:45 p.m., Sunday one of the suspects masquerading as a pizza deliveryman knocked on the door of a home on the 4200 block of Suzanne Drive, said Lt. Zach Perron, a police spokesman.

A teenage girl, who had recently moved into the house with her parents and two younger siblings, answered the door and found a man holding a delivery bag claiming that the family had ordered a pizza, Perron said.

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The girl told the man he was mistaken and went to close the door, but the bandit pushed his way past her and was closely followed by his two accomplices, who were both armed — one with a handgun, the other with a knife — and wearing masks, Perron said.

The trio of would-be robbers didn’t make it past the entryway, however, before the girl’s mother appeared. One of the men tried to muffle the woman’s screams, causing a small abrasion to her face, but the father soon confronted the suspects, who turned and ran, Perron said.

The men were in the home for less than a minute before fleeing, Perron said, and did not have a chance to steal anything.

Police searched the area, but turned up no sign of the culprits.

The bogus pizza deliveryman was described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, 170 pounds with blond hair and brown eyes, and wearing a white long-sleeved shirt under a red T-shirt with yellow and white writing on the front, Perron said. The other two men were described as both about 6 feet 2 inches tall, 220 pounds with muscular builds.

Anyone with information about the crime can contact Palo Alto police at (650) 329-2413.